Parental Mental Health and Infant NICU Admission (Podcast)
Activity description
Parental mental health in the NICU is a critical, yet often under-addressed, aspect of neonatal care. Despite high levels of emotional distress experienced by both mothers and fathers during and after NICU hospitalization, current practices lack consistent screening protocols and inclusive support services. This activity aims to explore the gaps in current NICU parental mental health practices, including limited screening during hospitalization and the absence of ongoing support post-discharge. It will highlight the disconnect between infant acuity and mental health service planning and provide example interventions that include standardized, culturally sensitive screening for both parents, multidisciplinary support teams and programs that promote parent-infant bonding. It will also foster interprofessional collaboration by examining how physicians, psychologists, social workers, and nursing professionals can work together to implement integrated mental health strategies that improve outcomes for NICU families. Participants will gain insight into how these improvements can lead to more equitable, proactive and effective mental health support for NICU families.
This activity is designed for the health care team—including physicians, psychologists, social workers, nurses, and other professionals—to learn with, from, and about each other in addressing parental mental health during NICU care.
At the end of this activity, participants should be able to:
- Identify the impacts of infant NICU admission on maternal and paternal mental health.
- Articulate how parental mental health impacts infant outcomes.
- Recognize interventions that effectively target parental mental health screening and outcomes.
- Discuss how to collaborate across disciplines to implement integrated mental health interventions for NICU families.
Provided by
This activity is provided by Optum Health Education and Optum Whole Health Solutions, Women’s Health.
Commercial support
No commercial support was received for this activity.
Required hardware/software
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ACCOMPANYING WEBCAST
For more information on parental mental health and infant NICU admission, please also view the accompanying on-demand webcast. During the webcast, Dr. Alison Cook will explore gaps in NICU parental mental health care—such as inconsistent screening and limited post‑discharge support—while offering standardized, culturally sensitive, and multidisciplinary strategies to advance equitable, proactive support for NICU families.
Click here to access the on-demand webcast: Parental Mental Health and Infant NICU Admission
Speakers
Alison Cook, DO
National Medical Director, Neonatal Resource Services
Optum Whole Health Solutions
Optum
Martha Sharkey
Founder & CEO of Today Is A Good Day
Flourtown, PA
Paul Sharkey
Founder of Today Is A Good Day
Flourtown, PA
Activity Planners
Elizabeth Albert, MD
Clinical Planner
Optum Health Education
Judy C. Bronson, Ph.D
Licensed Psychologist
Psychologist Peer Review National Director
Optum
Susana Castro-Alcaraz, MD
Senior Medical Director
Optum Health Solutions
Sarah Chart, RN
Vice President
Optum Health Education
Disclosures of relevant financial relationships
In accordance with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education's (ACCME) Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education, Optum Health Education (OHE) requires all those in control of educational content to disclose their financial relationships with ineligible companies within the prior 24 months. Ineligible companies are defined by the ACCME as companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing health care products used by or on patients. Individuals must disclose all financial relationships, regardless of the amount, with ineligible companies and regardless of their view of the relevance of the relationship to the education. OHE ensures that the content is independent of commercial bias.
The speaker and planners have no financial relationships to disclose.
Accreditation statement
In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by Optum Health Education and Optum Whole Health Solutions, Women’s Health. Optum Health Education is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the health care team.
Credit designation statements
This activity was planned by and for the health care team, and learners will receive 1.00 Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credit for learning and change.
Nurses
The participant will be awarded up to 1.00 contact hour(s) of credit for attendance and completion of supplemental materials.
Nurse practitioners
The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program (AANPCP) accepts credit from organizations accredited by the ACCME and ANCC.
Physicians
Optum Health Education designates this enduring activity for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
PAs
The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) accepts credit from organizations accredited by the ACCME.
Psychologists
Optum Health Education is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to offer continuing education for psychologists. Optum Health Education maintains responsibility for this program. 1.00 CE hour .
Social workers
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, Optum Health Education is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. Optum Health Education maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive up to 1.00 continuing education credit.
Attendance
A certificate of attendance will be provided to learners upon completion of activity requirements, enabling participants to register with licensing boards or associations that have not been preapproved for credits. To apply for credit types not listed above, participants should use the procedure established by the specific organization from which they wish to obtain credit.
Available Credit
- 1.00 AMA - Physicians
- 1.00 ANCC - Nurses
- 1.00 APA - Psychologists
- 1.00 Attendance - General Attendance
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